Best Bets on Bad NHL Teams: San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard

The big conversations in the National Hockey League typically concern clubs like the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins. The Rangers, Devils, and Hurricanes are referenced too because they’ve performed well recently.

But there are some teams that very few people care to mention because they’ve had hockey doldrums for some time. Even sportsbooks don’t necessarily highlight those franchises very much, if at all. The most striking examples are the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks, and Columbus Blue Jackets. What are some of the good bets that players can find if they dig a little?

In the spirit of spreading the limelight on the lesser teams in the NHL, at least for a day, we’ve done some homework and offer some ideas of best bets on bad teams.

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Best Bets on Bad NHL Teams

San Jose Sharks: Over-Under on Saves by Goalies

There are no two ways about it: the San Jose Sharks have been dreadful for a few seasons. For a while, they were interesting to glance at because Erik Karlsson was on the roster and is a great player, but he joined the Pittsburgh Penguins during the summer.

What do the Sharks have now that can get the fans excited? Not much. What do they have that can interest betters? Horrible defence. And why is a horrible defence of interest to us? Because it means that goalie Mackenzie Blackwood is going to be one of the busiest netminders in the league, and so will Kaapo Kahkonen when he’s called into action. For a club that coughs up goals by the bucket load (29 in seven games), it’s amazing that their collective save percentage is .909. Blackwood’s  was .919, at least prior the Thursday’s 6-0 drubbing at the hands of the Lightning, Remember, this is a winless team through seven games.

Best Bet: Given that they concede the third-most shots on goal in the league (231), keep looking at the over-under on saves by Blackwood and Kahkonen. Depending on the opponent, the over would be a good bet.

Chicago Blackhawks: Connor Bedard The Shot Maestro

It was only a few weeks ago that the media hype surrounding Connor Bedard reached a point of volcanic eruption. Then Chicago surprised the Penguins on opening night. Since then, they’ve lost five of six, were shut out twice, and scored one goal once. Oh yes, how had we forgotten? The Blackhawks aren’t a good team.

Connor Bedard himself has shown signs that he’s NHL-ready. He has himself two goals and two assists through seven games. His plus-minus is -4, but seven games into a career it’s a little early to crucify a generational talent. It hasn’t been from lack of trying. Bedard has attempted the most shots on target on the team with 22 already. He’s 29^th in the league, which doesn’t sound amazing, but after the top 10, he’s in excellent company with John Tavares, Tyler Toffoli, William Nylander, Brady Tkachuk, and David Pastrnak just to name a few.

Best Bet: Pay attention to the over-under for shots on goal. Depending on the quality of the opposition, the over could be a good bet.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Adam Fantilli Points

The Columbus Blue Jackets have had a respectable start to the season. At 3-2-2, at least they’ve managed to collect points in most of the games they played, even though the last two were overtime defeats against beatable opposition (Ducks and Canadiens).

It took a few games for rookie Adam Fantilli to get going, but he scored twice in his past three games. His goal against Anaheim the other night was a beautiful wrister. The media attention on this year’s class of NHL rookies has been on Connor Bedard in Chicago. Truth be told, Fantilli’s held his own thus far on a team that last season wasn’t much better than the Blackhawks.

Looking ahead at the club’s schedule, they have games against the Islanders at home, the Stars away, the Lightning at home, and the Capitals away. Dallas is going to be a tough proposition, but the Islanders have struggled a bit in the early goings of the campaign, and the Lightning and Capitals have proven to be vulnerable. These are teams that Adam Fantilli can earn a point or even multiple points against.

Best Bet: Keep your eyes on the under-under on points (be they assists or goals) for Adam Fantilli over the next week.

Anaheim Ducks: Mighty Again?

Our last team under discussion for this exercise is the Anaheim Ducks. They too have toiled away at or near the basement of the NHL pecking order recently.

But looking at results so far in 2023-2024, one wonders if the Ducks are slowly turning a corner. They’re still under .500, but 3-4 isn’t half bad. What’s more, they ride a two-game winning streak including a surprise 4-3 OT victory versus the Bruins in Boston. The final scores suggest they’ve played their opponents tough. A 3-2 loss to a good Stars squad, a 2-1 loss to the Coyotes, and a 3-1 loss to the Bruins (they’ve already played them twice). They’re not allowing teams to bully them as was so often the case last season.

Frank Vatrano has been good, as has Ryan Strome and goalie Lukas Dostal.

Up next, they have the Flyers in Philly (the Flyers have been surprisingly good too), at Pittsburgh, and home to the Coyotes. The Penguins come up shortly again on November 7, as do the Sharks on the 12^th.

Best Bet: We’re not suggesting they win all these games, but the Ducks will be a tempting pick against the Penguins, Coyotes, and Sharks.